Middle Temple is committed to making a career at the Bar accessible to all with the requisite ability irrespective of their background.
While the Inn's outreach work is primarily focused on supporting undergraduate students it works closely with other organisations that seek to improve access to the legal profession.
For aspiring Barristers the below organisations provide advice, learning opportunities and information that can help support you on your journey to the Bar.
For members of the Inn looking to promote diversity and encourage pre-university students the following charities and organisations have the Inn's approval and we encourage members to get in contact with them about volunteering.
Middle Temple's Outreach Partners:
Bar Mock Trials (provided by Young Citizens)
The Mock Trial Competitions are Young Citizen's longest-running active learning experiences. Since 1991, we’ve provided unparalleled exposure to the judicial system, its venues and access to senior legal professionals.
We’ve been supplying our youngest citizens with specially written cases so they can try the law against their peers in courthouses around the UK.
In 2011 a group of law students worked together to design an outreach project called 'Big Voice London'. The project helped students from non-fee paying schools in and around London to explore the UK legal system.
Since then, we have worked with over 2000 young people and grown into a social mobility charity operating across England and Wales. In 2021, to reflect our national presence, we became 'BVL'.
At BVL we aim to:
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Engage our students in law and legal policy
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Inspire them to pursue legal careers
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Improve diversity in the legal profession
We believe that a person's background should not be a barrier to entering the legal profession and that the legal system can only benefit from the profession better reflecting the society we live in.
To achieve our aims, we offer opportunities throughout the year for young people between the ages of 16 and 18 years old, who are currently studying for or have recently completed their A-Levels at a non-fee paying school or college. Our projects are free of charge. The projects are run virtually (via Zoom) and in person and are open to students from anywhere in England and Wales.
The Black Barristers’ Network (BBN) was founded in 2019 by Natasha Shotunde & Mavis Amonoo-Acquah to provide support and increase the visibility of Black Barristers within and outside of the profession.
The Bar is a difficult profession for individuals from non-traditional backgrounds to enter and statistics show that Black Barristers are particularly underrepresented. Once within the profession, Black Barristers are faced with a number of issues that are unique to them. With Black Barristers spread out across different chambers and organisations, the Bar can feel like an isolating place. BBN is a platform for us to meet and provide support for one another. BBN also campaigns for change within the profession to address the barriers to entry and progression.
Our core mission is to promote the growth of Black Barristers across England and Wales through support, visibility and community outreach.
IntoUniversity provides local learning centres where young people are inspired to achieve.
At each local centre IntoUniversity offers an innovative programme that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to attain either a university place or another chosen aspiration.
Leducate is an educational charity that aims to promote an understanding of everyday legal rights among secondary school-aged students in England and Wales. We provide curriculum resources and training for teachers to deliver lessons directly to students on a range of topics including their civil and consumer rights.
Education is a crucial lever of social mobility and, in an increasingly legalised world, it is more important than ever that schools, which make students literate and numerate in conventional subjects, have the provision to make them legally literate too.
We believe that empowering young people with knowledge of their legal rights and responsibilities in day to day situations can change their future and enable them to become thriving members of society. It can divert some away from a path of debt, prison or social-services dependency and give them the tools to be informed, responsible and active members of society.
At Neurodiversity in Law, our purpose is to promote and support neurodiversity within the legal professions and eliminate the stigma often associated with people who think differently.
We envisage engaging widely with the legal sector to encourage an open discourse about neurodivergent lawyers.
We want to emphasise an intersectional approach to neurodiversity, which is why we’ve teamed up with several different diversity and inclusion organisations already. Neurodiversity in Law is not just for neurodivergent individuals. It is for everyone. Whether you have already decided to be an ally or whether you just want to find out more, you are welcome to join any of our open events or get in touch.
Rolls Building Education Programme (provided by National Justice Museum)
The Trust works with the National Justice Museum, who run educational activities for schools and colleges at the Royal Courts of Justice, to provide an educational programme for the Rolls Building. This links to the jurisdictions at the Rolls Building and draws on the cues provided by the works of art and artefacts to provide case studies for students to discuss. The aim is to educate young people about these important areas of civil law and also, through meeting High Court Judges, to open their eyes to the possibility of a career in law.